Frank Sinatra: Sinatra Sings Gershwin (2003)

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Sings Gershwin compiles Sinatra’s studio recording of Gershwin songs for Columbia with fourteen previously unreleased Sinatra radio and TV programs broadcast while he was a Columbia artist, including his famous 1947 Gershwin tribute for CBS radio, Songs by Sinatra.

He’s essentially the pop crooner here, dedicating “Embraceable You,” for example, “...to little Nancy on her seventh birthday.” And his repartee with his female co-lead in “It Ain’t Necessarily So” shows him a charming comic. But some Gershwin material allows Sinatra room to explore jazzy effects, too, as in the way the swinging trumpet sings back to his verses in “I’ve Got a Crush on You.”

Sinatra was obviously a big fan of Porgy & Bess, from which he broadcast two different medleys. The first splits “Summertime” in half with quick snatches of “I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’” by a supporting vocal group. The second, from the CBS radio tribute, strings together “Summertime,” “There’s A Boat That’s Leaving Soon For New York,” “Street Cries,” and “Bess You Is My Woman Now,” and in every one Sinatra’s voice resonates strong and true.

“Someone to Watch Over Me” finds Sinatra still bright-eyed and in love with love; decades later, he would sound more suspicious he might never find her...